Zionism

3Zionism is the belief that the Jews have the right to re-establish the old Jewish homeland in Israel, corresponding to Canaan, Palestine, and the Holy Land. With Theodor Herzl as one of its most-famous leaders, the movement emerged in the late 19th century and the early 20th century as anti-Semitism was at its strongest under the Russian Empire (which carried out pogroms against Jews and forced them into the "Pale of Settlement") and other European nations, with France accusing the Jewish man Alfred Dreyfus of passing military secrets to Prussia in the "Dreyfus Affair" and crowds yelling out "Death to the Jews!" in motions of racism. In 1948, Israel became an independent country, but there is still a movement by nationalist Jews that seeks to take over West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are considered to be parts of Israel by some.